Cocaine shipment not destined for New Zealand

Wednesday, 26 February 2014 - 9:28am

Canterbury

Police and Customs investigations into a quantity of cocaine found in a shipping container in Woolston earlier this month have concluded, with investigators determining the shipment was not destined for the New Zealand market.

Detective Inspector Virginia Le Bas says inquiries indicated that the container in which the material was found was routed from South America to Europe.

"We believe that the original destination was Rotterdam," she says. "Indications are that the package had been in the container for some time."

Testing had confirmed that the material was cocaine. It was located earlier this month in packages in a container at the Lyttelton Port Company depot in Woolston.

Detective Inspector Virginia Le Bas says Police and Customs have now exhausted all inquiries.

Cases such as these are not unusual, she says, with law enforcement agencies around the world encountering similar situations to this.

ENDS

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